Demon's Dreams
by Soulhost
Summary: The young Knight Captain battles her dreams and fights for her life; but does she realize that she is not alone...? GannXKC
1. Spirits and Witches and Egos, Oh My!

_Disclaimer: I think we all know that I do not own Neverwinter Nights 2 (or Mask of the Betrayer) or anything related to Obsidian! But I DO own the KC!_

_A/N: Yes, yes; I've said many times that my spelling sucks and characters might be OOC; I SUCK with personalities, alright?! NOBODY IS PERFECT, DAMN IT!! Anyways, I will be using my own dialogue :D though…I might add some from the game X3 if I can remember them o.o; haven't played the game in a while XD and I KNOW I haven't finished my other story but at least I finally got third chapter out! XD please forgive me! Well…enjoy! :D_

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**Spirits and Witches and Egos, Oh My!**

"By the gods, finally free of that spirit invested barrow!" Karen exclaimed, blood coating the blue tunic she wore, which slightly covered the white eye.

Safiya, a Red Wizard who found Karen in the barrow, nodded. "Yes and over there is the City of Mulsantir." The teen girl stood up straight from the bent over position she was in and looked at the city; her tail twitched as a grin appeared on her lips.

"So, do indulge me on why I was in that damned barrow and so far from the Sword Coast," she said. Safiya looked at Karen and said, "We're here to see a woman, Liana, and so we can _both_ get some answers." The golden demon eyes stared at the Red Wizard till they closed and Karen sighed. "Why am I getting the feeling it won't go as easy as I wish it too?" she whined.

Safiya chuckled at the unoptimistic teen; she watched her as she straightened from her bent position again and stretch then rubbed one of the long, thin horns that pointed to the back of her. Though one horn was shorter, there was no point…like someone had lopped it off with a blade.

Karen stared at the city again and asked, "So, spirits are here…what else is here?" Safiya looked at her a bit confused. "I mean…with the city," she said, grinning sheepishly. "Well…the lands here are cold and unforgiving; and, coincidently enough, developed the people to be cold and unforgiving…they are also suspicious and paranoid of strangers. And they dislike my kind, so I'll have to disguise myself," she said.

She noted the slightly worried look on the teen's features and said, "Don't worry, if they become suspicious, I'll…think of something." The sheepish grin appeared on the young girl's lips as she said, "Or I'll use a bit of diplomatic talking to get their asses away."

The Red Wizard chuckled; she was defiantly amusing. "So, how're we gonna find this Liana lady?" Karen asked. "I sent out two other Homunculi to find her, like Kaji," she replied. Safiya's familiar, Kaji, then spoke up, "But they're not as smart! Or as good looking!" Karen laughed and grinned at the Homunculi, and Safiya chuckled. "Yes, so I won't be surprised if they got lost on the way," she said.

Karen nodded and grinned, "Well, you need a disguise, yes?" "Yes, please give me a few moments to prepare before we head out," she said. The teen nodded and plopped under a tree as the Red Wizard went behind a bush. When she couldn't see Safiya, she let out a rather sad sigh and her expression saddened.

All she could think about were her companions…her friends; she was most happy have been able to kill that annoying sorceress, _Qara_. She was so scared Sand was going to betray her, he was very kind to her; she felt horrible for Neeshka, how she was tortured. They were like sisters because they shared the same heritage; Neeshka was so much like a big sister and she rejoiced when she fought against Garius.

Khelgar was scarily like an older, overprotective brother! Always charging after men who would flirt with her. Elanee…by the gods, she was the mother she never had; she cared for the teen and had watched her grow up. Grobnar was…well, more like a very annoying pet that she couldn't help but adore…though he could use some work with his singing.

Then there was Casavir…he was more like a father that Daeghun never was; when he confessed his "love" for her, she was leaning against the short part of the keep's wall and had literally fallen over. Despite his full plate, he moved fast enough to catch her, and she had yelled up to him that he was more like a father to her. The poor human almost dropped her from that but regrabbed her when she let out a startled yelp.

Karen grinned at the memory…though she was still a little crept out; her grin fell as she thought of Shandra. Despite her being a bit moody, she was also like a mother to her, though she could never replace Elanee. The memory of her dead body flashed in her mind and she flinched; she remembered charging in blind rage at Ammon Jerro, ready to lop his head off with her rapier, but was caught by Casavir and Khelgar.

Speaking of that crazy warlock; after she got over her hatred and began to understand the old man, and after gaining his respect several times, he was a bit protective of her as well…not as bad as Khelgar, but still…more like a grandfather, maybe…a very, very scary grandfather.

And there was that cleric, Zhjaeve; the way she tended to start with "know" kind of got on her nerves. She confused the Githzerai when she started doing that herself, but she almost got an arrow in her hide when she said it for like the fifteenth time.

Karen flinched as she thought that; the last of her companions…that evil bastard, Bishop. She remembered the so many innuendos, the leering, and snide comments…and she remembered his and Casavir's bickering. Those two were always at each other's throats, but she could never help but laugh. She remembered that night, before the undead came to the keep; Casavir had left and she stood on the wall, staring at the full moon when he visited her.

He had kissed her; wasn't the first time he had, but that one was different. It was passionate and full of emotions she thought he didn't have; the poor young teen turned utterly red at the memory and her tail twitched. But the red disappeared as she thought of his betrayal; she was such a mess, watching him leave. She almost ran to him, but was once again stopped by Casavir and Khelgar.

When they met again, in the Vail of Merdelain, he told her everything…of his past. She felt even more hatred towards those damned Luskans, but she almost crumbled when Bishop didn't leave…no, he stayed…he fought against them. She fended off his arrows until Garius and Qara were dead; she told everyone to stay back and she prepared her rapier. She didn't use the Sword of Gith; he used his longsword, arrows aside, and Karnwyr was nowhere in sight.

They fought, their weapons clashing together; he lopped off almost all of her left horn when she ducked. She wasn't thinking when she stabbed him in the chest; her eyes had widened at what she did and she saw a smirk appear on his lips. She watched as he pulled himself off her rapier and a hand instinctively went to his wound; he smirked at her and had said, _"Nice hit, _Captain_."_

He fell forward but Karen had caught him; she turned him over and held him to her small frame. She yelled to Casavir, Zhjaeve, Grobnar, and Elanee to heal him…but they had used all their healing spells up. She had looked back at him as the tears began to run. Bishop had done his best to sneer at her, but it was mixed with pain…and guilt.

"_Don't cry…on my worthless behalf…I'm not worth those tears."_

Her heart wretched at that and she yelled back, _"You are too! You're worth every drop of them! Damn it, Bishop, I love you!!"_ She had seen the surprised look on his face and heard the shocked gasps of her companions; he smirked again and brought up a bloody hand to her face, softly tracing her chin, lips, and cheek.

"_Yeah…I felt the same, but that's why I fought you…lying to myself I felt nothing."_

His hand fell and his eyes started to lose their light, and the last words he had uttered to her still haunted her…

"_Thanks, Karen."_

His eyes closed as his body went limp and Karen tried waking him, called to him, but she knew nothing would help; she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at the face of Casavir. He shook his head and her tears began falling faster; she looked back at the dead man she had loved and she burst into tears, burying her face in his blood soaked leathers.

She shivered at the painful memory and wiped away any tears that threatened to come out. They had rested, regaining strength; Karen had used a spell to burn Qara and Garius' body to ash…but for Bishop, she couldn't; no, she dragged his body to where it wouldn't get any more damaged in the fight with the King of Shadows.

When he had appeared, she felt a tremor run through her; he was bloody HUGE! He started talking to her…he tried to sway her over to his side, bribing her with bringing Bishop back. She almost accepted, but she glared and said, _"He would only be a mindless corpse; he wouldn't be the man I knew…plus, he would probably kick my ass for bringing him back!"_

They defeated him but the place started to collapse; they started running, but she had gone back…gone back for Bishop's body; she heard her friends calling for her, but she ignored them…then everything went black and the next thing she knew, she woke in the barrow.

Karen let out a startled yell as Kaji suddenly appeared in front of her; she fell over and smacked her head on another tree. She yelped and rubbed the sore spot; she looked over at Safiya and she was now in a dark robe, a hood over her head. "Is everything alright? You looked dazed and…sad," she said.

The teen blinked then grinned sheepishly. "Nah! All is cool!" she exclaimed then jumped up onto her feet, straightening the mud and blood stained, tan breeches. She frowned at her outfit, she really liked it…Lord Nasher gave it to her when she joined the Neverwinter Nine. "I hope I can find somebody to sew this thing up; I don't wanna lose it!" she exclaimed.

She had a strange manner of talking; Safiya heard words she never heard before: "gonna" and "wanna." The teen Tiefling was strange indeed. "Let's get going," Safiya said. Karen yawned and nodded, stretching. "Alrighty then!"

---

Okay…this was getting ridiculous! Karen turned to look at Safiya with an annoyed look and said, "First finding those Red Wizards and finding out the one woman with answers is dead, now THIS?!" The Red Wizard sighed; standing in front of them now were the Witches.

Karen's tail twitched and she immediately started defending herself, "I am in no way associated with those Thayens that attacked; I _helped_ and _tried_ to save Liana. No, I did _not_ kill the woman; she killed _herself_ for some unknown reason."

"Then what Magda said was true! That Thayens appeared from the very shadows!" Katya exclaimed, her young eyes looking frightened behind her mask. "Calm yourself, Katya; you are a witch now, not a farm girl," the older woman, Sheva Whitefeather, said to calm the young woman.

"Why are you here, witches? I have studied your laws and we have broken none!" Safiya exclaimed. The young Tiefling looked at her and said, "Perhaps they dislike any type of fighting?" "How _dare_ you, foreigner!" Kazimika Vadoi exclaimed, glaring hatefully at Karen through her mask.

Karen's tail twitched and her sheepish grin appeared on her lips. "So, please indulge us on why you stopped us?" she asked. Sheva stared at Karen and said, "The bear god marches an army to our gates…roaring for your blood." "And the bear god does _not_ lie! I can _smell_ the wrong on you foreigner!" Kazimika sneered.

She turned to her Thayen friend and said, "The colorful _furball_ is back?!" The three witches gaped at her before Kazimika exploded, "How _dare_ you speak of Lord Okku in such a manner, _barbarian!_" Karen turned and stuck her tongue out, "Correction: swashbuckler!"

"_And one of the Neverwinter Nine but I doubt they know of that."_

Karen scratched the end of her nose and said, "So, I guess I'm gonna have'ta fight furball again; let's kick spirit butt, Safiya!" Safiya chuckled and nodded. "No witch may stand against the bear god, but…go to our prison and maybe there you can find some more 'allies' to aid you," Sheva said.

"How very generous of you," the Tiefling whistled. "We will be watching you," Sheva said before the three disappeared. Karen's eye twitched and she stuck her tongue where the witches were. "Stuck up, wenches," she grumbled, her tail flickering wildly. She squeaked as her tail was caught by Safiya and she looked back at the wizardess. "You'll label hit me or Kaji with your tail flickering about like that," she said.

Karen just grinned and slipped her thin tail out from her hand. "Sorry, sorry," she said and went down the steps to the prison.

----

Gann sighed as he stood in his "cell," rather embarrassed at the fact of that woman yelling out "rape" when he had done nothing to her…except maybe admire her from afar and "invade" her dreams last night. How rather unfortunate for him that she recognized him and had him jailed.

His ears perked as he heard talking and he became rather curious; to his surprise, his door opened and there stood two women: one was garbed in a robe and a hood over her head, trying to conceal tattoos; it was rather obvious what she was. Then there was the other one…

She was young…_very_ young but also rather pretty; her hair was long, perhaps to her waist but it was tied back in a braid and only a few strands of hair fell into her face. It was also an interesting color: bright red with black streaking it, as if covered with ash. He studied her horns, particularly the smaller one, and it was obvious it was cut with a blade. Her eyes were a golden color, which shone brightly against her tanned skin, but it highlighted the two stripes under each eye which matched them. The tail behind her flickered wildly as the young Tiefling obviously studied him; he also noted her rather…dirty clothes. Covered in dirt and blood…a _lot_ of blood.

The girl was obviously studying him as he studied her; the Thayen watched him carefully, obviously protective of the Tiefling.

"Ah, more jailers to come rattle my cage?" he spoke.

The Tiefling looked up at him; she came up only about his stomach, a bit under his chest perhaps but not by much. She tilted her head to one side and her tail flickered. "Not one of your jailers," she said then a sheepish grin spread across her lips, "but maybe your benefactor?" He tried to suppress a grin; she obviously knew how to talk.

"Is that so? Well, go on…my benefactor," he said smoothly. He rose a rather thing brow as she looked around his cell. "Wow…they must be terrified of you if they locked you up in this closed off space!" she said, though she did not sound impressed, "why'd they lock you up in here, anyways? What's your crime for it?"

Gann sighed rather dramatically, which he noticed made the Tiefling raise a red brow, and said, "_My_ crime? You see, I am too handsome to look upon; it is not the first time I have been forced to have myself locked in a cell to have admirers at bay. If _that's_ what you're here for; you'll have to wait in line like the rest."

She was quiet…

Perhaps too quiet until she spoke, "So it was your wit and charm that got you in here?"

He let the corner of his lips twitch and said, "You must not be from Mulsantir, they have _no_ sense of humor whatsoever." "I've noticed," the Tiefling grumbled.

"But as much as this delightful banter is pleasing, I'm starting to get the suspicion there is more you wish of me," he said.

Karen sighed as her tail twitched behind her. "I'm in need of help against a couple of spirits…being led by a very angry, very strong, and very _colorful_ bear spirit by the name of Okku," she said.

"My, what did you steal from him?" he asked. He noticed the rather annoyed expression on the young girl's face and she poked his chest with her tail. "Hey! I stole nothing from him! I may have my moments, but I know better then to steal from the dead! Err…spirits…whatever!" she exclaimed.

He kept his smirk hidden; she had a rather fiery temper if provoked. "And what reason does one such as I have to follow you into this seemingly hopeless battle?" he asked.

"Cause all the time I've been here; you haven't pushed me out," she said. He finally allowed himself to laugh; well, more of a chuckle but still. "An excellent response; you have yourself a willing soldier then," he said.

The Tiefling threw her hands up in excitement and grinned, "Yay!" Gann chuckled and said, "Please, allow us to say goodbye to the 'warden.' I'd hate to leave without saying goodbye to her gentle, loving soul." "Obviously that was sarcasm, I hope," she said before a sudden surprise look came to her face, "oh! I don't think I asked you your name!"

"I am Gannayev, Gann of Dreams," he replied. She stared at him for a bit, blinking then let out that rather sheepish grin and said, "Karen Chaos! And this is Safiya and Kaji!"

Gann let out a small smirk, let out a small nod, and said, "Well met then."


	2. Broken Dreams

_**Disclaimer:**__ ....COME ON! You know I do not own Neverwinter Nights 2, Atari, Mask of the Betrayer and the characters of it!!_

_**Claimer:**__ Karen Chaos is mine! Muahahahha! ~Coughs~_

_**A/N:**__ I AM SO SORRY!!! My old computer had gotten into something really nasty and I had to get a new computer...I had THOUGHT I had all my stories in my, erm...memorystick! That's it! But it ended up it was put in wrong and I lost everything!! TT^TT so, I am retyping EVERYTHING! ...but obviously I can't bloody remember what the hell I had down, so...*sighs* also, I decided to change something on Karen: she's a swashbuckler duelist ^.^ and I know her way of talking is not _common_ in the game, but I'm not common and I have my own way of speaking myself, and Karen is a very hyper thing, haha_

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Broken Dreams

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Safiya said they would go seek out this Kaelyn the Dove. Safiya said Karen would stay at the Sloop and sleep; he noticed the tiefling was more than happy to comply. Was she that tired? Or was it something more? He turned to look at the red wizard to get answers; they were resting in an open house in Shadow Mulsantir. "So, dear Safiya, indulge me on our young tiefling."

She looked at the hagspawn with a raise brow and turned her attention back to examining a book. "She's young," she replied bluntly. Gann's face fell at her answer; not exactly what he was looking for. "I do hope that's not _all_ you know of her?" he asked.

She sighed and closed the book. "Of course it isn't, but I know little of her. I know she is from the Sword Cost, from a small village in the Mere of Deadmen called West Harbor. She mentioned it was attacked and many people were killed; she also mentioned she was sent out into the swamp to retrieve a shard there and had to leave to Neverwinter. That's all she talked about."

Well, it _was_ intriguing and his curiosity in her increased.

"And how old is she exactly?" His question was greeted by a smirk from the red wizard, making him raise a brow; was there a _reason_ for it?

"She's fifteen."

"_Fifteen?!_" He hadn't meant to yell out so loudly, but he was more than surprised by the age, "she's a child!"

"I know, I was surprised too; I knew she was young, but...not that young," she said while she stood, "let's be on our way."

----

_"Karen! Get back here!"_

_"I have to get his body!"_

_"He's dead, lass! C'mon!"_

_"I won't allow him to rot here!"_

_"Karen, look out!"_

_"AAAAAHHH!!!"_

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He stopped...he felt a tremor, but not because of this place; it was from the dreaming world. But what could had shook it? Or perhaps it was such a bad dream...or memory...that he felt the fear that it struck into the dreamer even in Shadow Mulsantir.

"Gann, come on; there's somebody up ahead," Safiya said.

He looked at her and sighed rather dramatically. "Women are so bossy." He had to move from getting smacked with a quarterstaff.

----

She just stared at the ceiling, the cold sweat still running down her face; she couldn't stop thinking about her friends. She hoped they still lived. She still felt the guilt in killing Bishop and Qara; she may not have liked the sorceress, but she had traveled with her for a long time. She closed her amber eyes, but shot them back open as the faces of everyone appeared in her mind.

_"How can I sleep..knowing they could be dead...because of me?"_

The guilt of leading everyone to their death started to overwhelm her and she grabbed her pillow, and she screamed into it.

----

The spirits in this hall wouldn't shut up. Wouldn't listen to him to be quiet. And it was grating on his nerves. "The spirits in this room cry for release; but Myrkul's judgment on them do not allow them to pass on or to listen to your calls, Gann," Kaelyn said in that calm voice of hers. He sighed and glared over to the caged spirits. "So I have noticed," he grumbled.

They got to a pair of stairs and Gann went down first, but..."Gann! Look out!" Safiya's calling out to him came too late.

----

Karen finally got out of bed and put on a fresh tunic, and breeches...but they were both too long and she had to put in a hole for her tail. The sleeves passed her clawed fingers and she could almost trip on the leggings of her breeches, but it was the best she had since her Neverwinter Nine tunic was ripped up, dirty, and bloody.

_"Gotta find somebody to fix that; I'd hate to lose it."_

She walked out of her room, ruffling up her hair since it wasn't in her normal braid, and walked into the common room of the Sloop; her nose wrinkled a bit, trying hard not to sneeze. It defiantly wasn't the Sunken Flagon. She frowned and walked up to the bar.

"Want something to drink, child?" the owner of the Sloop asked. She blinked and looked at the human, her tail flickering behind her. "Um, a mug of water?" she asked more then said. The man just raised a brow and left for a minute then came back with her water; she stared at it and sniffed it. "It isn't poisoned," he sounded offended.

She glanced up at him and grinned sheepishly, then took a large gulp of her drink; he nodded, satisfied, and walked to a different customer.

She set the mug down and sighed heavily, lying her chin on the counter; when were Safiya and Gann getting back? She hoped they were alright. She felt a twinge of guilt for letting them go to Shadow Mulsantir and to the Vault without her with them. She would hate herself if anything were to happen to them!

_"No point in worrying yourself to death! Time for a walk..."_

She exited the Sloop and walked up the small hill to where the market was. She saw Efrem and Susah standing there; Efrem was the first to notice the young tiefling.

"Your companions told us you were asleep," he said to her. Her tail twitched a bit as she gave him a grin. "I was! But I'm awake now," she replied as she walked up to the two adults, "I guess they haven't returned yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure they---" Susah stopped talking as her mouth dropped. Karen blinked and looked at Efrem, and it seemed he was trying hard not to laugh; curiosity took over and she looked to where they were staring at, and her mouth practically hit the ground.

There they were: Safiya with Kaji flying by her, a woman Karen didn't know (so she was probably Kaelyn), and Gann...it was the first time Karen's seen his other eye.

But while Efrem actually tried to keep himself from laughing, Karen did no such thing; no, she broke down into laughter, holding her sides in sheer pain.

"Wh-what happened to his _hair?!_"

The hagspawn's long hair was now a big ball of silvery gray fluff and he did _not_ look happy.

Safiya bit her bottom lip to keep herself from laughing and the tiefling was not making it easy.

"W-well, Karen, we were walking down a flight of stairs and Gann stepped onto an electrical trap; it did no harm to him...except for his hair," the Thayan replied, almost nonsuccessfully.

While the siblings talked, Karen forced Gann to stay with her and Safiya; his eye twitched with great irritation as the young tiefling laughed and poked at his hair. He noticed how her tail was moving rather excitedly, much like a dog when seeing his master after so long; he reached out and caught her tail, which made her squeak and freeze. "I would greatly _appreciate_ it if you left this monstrosity alone," he said, surprisingly calm.

Karen blinked then grinned sheepishly. "No need for embarrassment, Gannayev! And I had the same misfortune and, luckily, I had Sand help me with it and I took notes of what he did!" she explained excitedly, not realizing her small mistake.

"Who's Sand?" Safiya was the one to ask. The duelist's eyes snapped open and her tail, which was still in Gann's hand, went limp; he noticed how her face fell and...was there fear in her eyes? He didn't have the time to double check because it was gone and that grin was back, facing the red wizard.

"H-he's a moon elf, a wizard; I think you would have liked him, Safiya," Gann noted the small stutter in her voice. What had happened to this Sand? Safiya hadn't noticed, she was too busy looking surprised.

Gann was for once glad when Kaelyn came over to them, noticing how Karen completely forgot what they were previously talking about, and Safiya had recovered from her surprise.

"My siblings made a deal with you?" Kaelyn asked, looking directly at Karen. The tiefling blinked but nodded, "Yeah, even though I didn't exactly go." The dove stared at the tiefling calmly but with a sad look almost, "Please release them from this debt, I do not wish them harm."

The young duelist, once again, grinned sheepishly and said, "Sure! I think with us four, we can kick furball's colorfully butt!" Kaelyn smiled a bit and went back to her siblings; Efrem came over and threatened Karen to not get Kaelyn killed. The poor tiefling hid behind Gann, who _still_ had her tail, and Efrem gave Karen his helm then he and Susah left.

Kaelyn came up to them and turned to Karen. "Safiya tells me you are Karen Chaos?" she asked. Said tiefling popped her head up from behind Gann's hairball and plopped her chin on it, irritating the hagspawn, "Yep! And Kaelyn the Dove, you is?" The dove blinked at her way of talking, but nodded nonetheless.

"Excellent! Now let's get Gann's silvery fluff de-fluffed!" Karen exclaimed, rather happily, "that is, if he lets my tail go." He complied then his hand was grabbed by the tiefling, and he was surprised by her strength as she began pulling him back to the Sloop; the others followed behind.

----

He sat on a small stool in the Sloop's bathing room; Safiya and Kaelyn stood with him. Karen, at the moment, went back outside to retrieve the necessary "ingredients" to fix this problem of his. It didn't take long till the young tiefling returned with two potions, seven scrolls, and a wooden bucket filled with water.

"Where did you get the water?" Safiya asked a bit curiously. Gann watched cautiously of the duelist's tail, as it thrashed from side to side. "We're next to the docks with such a great supply of water!"

"You got it from the lake?!" Gann couldn't help but groan. The tiefling just stuck her tongue out at him and set the bucket down, and the potions and scrolls next to it; Safiya examined the bottles and scrolls, and raised a brow.

"Potion of lesser restoration and of aid, scroll of resist elements, regenerate, restoration, greater restoration, spell resistance, protection from elements and from spells. Is this what he used on you?" The red wizard turned her gaze to Karen as she inspected the round, wooden bath.

The tiefling looked at Safiya and grinned. "Of course! I wrote it all down and took a long time to memorize it all, but I did so and successfully!" she seemed rather proud of herself of it. The red wizard couldn't help but smirk and shake her head. Gann, on the other hand, was not as amused.

He was eyeing the "ingredients" with much distrust. "Are you even _able_ to cast spells from a scroll?" he asked. That's when Karen stopped and grinned oh-so rather sheepishly at him, and his stomach dropped. "I'm a swashbuckler duelist, not a high wizard of powerful arcane! But never fear! We has ourselves a wizard_ress_, a red one at that!" that tail of hers poked the said wizardress' arm and she couldn't help but sigh.

Karen suddenly bolted out of the bathing room with another wooden bucket and returned soon with it filled with the lake's water. She poured it into the bath and turned to Gann. "Strip everything except the things that will hide your manliness," she said. A look of upmost horror passed on Safiya's face while Gann just stared at his younger leader; Kaelyn stared at the tiefling confusingly. But the dreamwalker complied and was now only in what will, as his young leader put it, "hide his manliness."

"Step into the water and sit," she commanded. He sighed and did so; the water was warm but he didn't notice Karen whisper to Safiya, handing her the secret scroll of ray of frost, where the red wizard quietly casted the spell into the first bucket of lake water.

Unfortunately for the spirit shaman, he was drenched in freezing cold water and he felt goosebumps from his toes to all the way up his body! It actually flattened his "fluff" of hair but that wasn't what he was caring about at the moment. "Wh-what in th-the name of the sp-spirits is w-_wrong_ with y-you?!" Oh, how Karen tried so hard not to grin but failed.

"I know, it's horrible! But it is necessary," she said, uncorking the potion of aid. She dumped the potion down his head then with the potion of lesser restoration; she instructed Safiya which scrolls to use in order and to it be aimed at his hair: protection from elements, resist elements, protection from elements, spell resistance, restoration, greater restoration, and regenerate. Much to both Safiya and Kaelyn's surprise, all of it combined turned into a purple gooey mess that consumed his hair.

"Kaelyn, since you have the most strength amongst as all, I need you to _grind_ your knuckles into his scalp...as _hard_ as you can!" Kaelyn nodded at her instructions and walked up to the horrified hagspawn; Kaelyn took her gauntlets off and began her work. Gann yelped at the pain he felt while Karen pulled _more_ scrolls out, the same ones they used and two extra scrolls being what the potions were; she pulled a comb out and had Safiya enchant it.

After a good thirty minutes of grinding Gann's hair, Karen had Kaelyn go get another bucket of lake water as she began to comb Gann's hair. She had him close his eyes as she styled his hair the way he had it before the mess; the dove returned with the bucket and, this time, Karen had Safiya enchant it with a scroll of burning hands.

"Okay, Gann, this is the last thing: be prepared," the tiefling warned. He expected it be freezing cold like last time (which he is still cold from), but he yelled out when the practically scolding water was poured over his very cold body.

"And there! His hair is back to normal!" Karen exclaimed proudly, her tail swaying side to side. Safiya was rather impressed and Kaelyn was surprised; Gann wasn't paying attention as he grabbed the tiefling's tail and yanked her to him, making her yelp. "What in the name of every ancient spirit is _wrong_ with you?!" He didn't expect the tiefling to grab hold of his back to normal hair and yank. "If you hadn't noticed, you _ungrateful_ mongrel, I was fixing your fluff! Which, by the way, is _BACK_ to _NORMAL_!!" she yelled the two noting words into his ear, making him let her tail go. She let his hair go and watched him inspect his hair.

He hadn't expected it to work and he could feel Safiya glaring at him to both thank Karen and apologize; he could almost feel his ego going down a few pegs. Steeling himself for something that would be rather painful indeed for his pride, he looked at the tiefling and took a deep breath, "I...apologize for how I acted towards you after you helped me with the...problem and I...thank you, for your help."

Karen stared at the hagspawn for a bit then grinned sheepishly, and she used her tail to lightly slap his bare arm. "Oh, Gannayev! You didn't need to do that! But I appreciate it nonetheless; now get dress and meet us in my room to discuss plans for the furball!" His mouth fell agape as the tiefling scurried off to her room with the calm Kaelyn and the snickering Safiya following her.

----

It didn't take long for Gann to appear in Karen's room, all dressed and with his normal hairstyle; he pulled a chair up and sat, crossing a leg over his knee and crossing his arms over his chest. Kaelyn and Safiya both stood while the tiefling sat on her bed.

"So, any ideas to handle Okku?" Karen sounded rather serious for a first and Gann was not counting with her small outburst at him (since he kind of provoked it out of her).

"Okku came with an army; why is that, I wonder?" he said rather then asked, wanting to see if they knew. Since only silence greeted him, he sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "They contain his anger, his rage; if he did not come with them then without a doubt the earth beneath our feet would have surely began to crumble." He raised a brow at Karen as she, perhaps just a tad childlike, raised her hand. "Yes, dearest leader?"

"What's his army got to do with anything?" her question just made him sigh. "If we dwindle his army low enough, it will weaken him to where we can attack him, and perhaps _defeat_ him," he replied.

"So, focus on his army and once he's weakened enough, turn our attacks onto him," Safiya said rather to herself then to the others. Gann nodded, "Yes; listen to my voice over the din of battle."

Karen nodded, the small spear point of her tail twitching behind her. "Perhaps we should go to the bazaar and see if we can find more suitable armor and weapons," Kaelyn suggested. Safiya nodded, agreeing with the dove, "She has a point. We should do that then stock up on potions."

Gann noticed how the tiefling shifted and he raised a brow at her, "Something to say, Karen?" She blinked and looked at him, probably a bit startled that he said her name for the first time. She grinned sheepishly at her new companions and her tail twitched. "Um, I can only wear mithril armor since it's the only ingot that is light enough for a duelist."

"She's right and since she isn't a spellcaster, it won't matter if she puts on armor," Safiya sighed. Karen nodded and frowned, "And the only mithril armor that I had was my uniform that I had on when I first awoke in the barrow. But that's completely messed up; I was able to wash away the dirt and blood, but I can't fix the holes in the fabric or the parts that were melted, or anything else."

Kaelyn was hesitant, but spoke up, "If I had the right kind of material thread, I could possibly fix it and some mithril ingot as well." Next thing the dove knew, she was being hugged by the tiefling who practically flew onto her.

"Thank you so much, Kaelyn!" She removed herself from the stunned cleric and went back to her spot on her bed; Safiya chuckled and Gann could only raise a brow. He hadn't thought that uniform of hers meant so much to her.

The dove let out a small smile and nodded, "You are most welcome, Karen."

Safiya nodded, satisfied how everything is coming along, "Let's go to the bazaar to find better equipment then."

----

They had decided that Safiya would stock on potions and Kaelyn would work on Karen's uniform while said tiefling and Gann would look for equipment for everyone. Karen decided they would look for armor and weapon for Gann first; he hadn't exactly expected her to decided on such, but he did not complain. He scanned the merchant's inventory and, much to his dismay, wasn't exactly sure what a spirit shaman should wear. He's always worn furs his entire life; he glanced over at his young leader and noticed the confused frown. She must have been lost as he was.

She glanced over at the hagspawn and studied the furs he wore; after a bit, an idea came to mind and she ran over to the human merchant.

He noticed her talking to the merchant and raised a brow; curiosity swam in his mind as they exchanged gold for...mithril ingots, quite a bit of it too. They started talking again and another exchange took place, this time for dark and light furs. She put the stuff in her bag of holding and went back to looking at stuff. He sighed and walked over to her, and grabbed her tail to get her attention; she squeaked and looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think we will be able to find anything for myself."

He couldn't help but raise a brow as the tiefling grinned sheepishly at him. "I have an idea, Gannayev! So, trust me and help me find stuff for the others!" she told him.

He blinked, a bit surprised, but let her tail go and went to look at the mage robes while Karen looked at full plated armor for Kaelyn. He couldn't help but glance at her; she was a bigger mystery then he cared to admit but she intrigued him.

_"Perhaps her dreams will answer something for me..."_

----

Karen was watching Kaelyn as she was fixing her uniform; Gann was leaning against the corner of the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, quietly watching his leader. He couldn't help but raise a brow when he watched her whisper to the cleric, and she made sure that he didn't hear; Kaelyn looked at the tiefling for a bit then she nodded, which made her earn one of the tiefling's sheepish grins.

Gann was soon kicked out so Kaelyn could make sure the uniform fit Karen; he went to his room and lied down on his bed, putting his hands behind his head and he closed his eyes. His thoughts wandered to his young leader; it wasn't every day that he found something, or someone in this matter, that captivated his interest. He found himself wanting to know her and it surprised him; she made him curious, to say the least.

It wasn't long until his door swung up and he was pounced on by none other than his "glorious" leader; he stared at her as she grinned down at him and she suddenly try taking his breeches off!

"You know, dear tiefling, you could have asked; though, I do prefer such in dreams."

His little retort made the poor tiefling turn dark red and she used her tail to smack his chest. "That's not what I'm doing, Gannayev! I need your pants for measurements!"

His green eyes blinked up at the teen. "My...measurements?" it was all he could get out and his question was greeted by her sheepish grin, "Your magic isn't arcane! It's much like a druid's magic, but I figured spirit shamans can wear light armor like a ranger! Only spirit shamans can wear mithril!"

It dawned on him when he saw her buy those mithril ingots that they were for him; he had thought she bought them to fix whatever damage her mithril chain shirt might have had.

"So...can I borrow your pants, Gannayev?"

He stared at her for a bit then he sighed, "Very well, but I will have to ask you to leave first." She grinned and jumped off him, and out his room.

----

Karen gave Kaelyn Gann's pants and watched the cleric measure them. "Do you have material for his pants?" Kaelyn asked but she did not look up from her work. The tiefling grabbed some extra dark furs from her bag of holding and flipped it over, so it showed the "skin." "I was thinking we take off the fur from the skin like we did with the shirt, but we don't leave any furs on the breeches and stitch them together."

The dove nodded and looked at her young leader, "Yes, that sounds like a nice idea." Karen grinned largely and without meaning too, said another mistake, "See?! I do have my smart moments unlike what Bishop would say!"

Kaelyn looked at her confused and asked, "Who is Bishop?" The tiefling stopped and her grin was gone; Kaelyn instantly noticed the sadness and pain that appeared in her demonic eyes, but it was gone and Karen grinned at her. "A human ranger who needed an attitude change," she said then looked over at the door, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Did something happen to the ranger?"

She saw her leader flinch and that her right hand curl into a fist.

"I...he..." she didn't get her sentence out as she dashed out her room.

"Karen!"

She stood up and tried following the duelist but when she went into the common room, Karen had already gone out the door; she turned and saw Safiya and Gann (who probably decided to go grab his pants).

"What happened?!" Safiya asked, obviously worried. Kaelyn frowned and told them of their conversation; the wizardress furrowed her brows while Gann stared at the common room's door.

"First this Sand person...now this Bishop," Safiya whispered to herself. Obviously, they must have been Karen's companions but she reacted so strongly about this Bishop.

----

She was huddled in a dark corner that was near the bazaar, where the portal to the Shadow Realm appeared at night.

"He's dead...I killed him; me...Bishop..."

She closed her eyes tightly and buried her face in her knees, wrapping her tail around herself and covering her head with her arms. All she could do was cry in pain and anguish...

----

They had waited for Karen to return, but she never did; Safiya sent Gann to look for the teen. But how would _he_ know where she was? He knew nothing of her except for what little the Thayan told him.

He tried asking the locals if they have seen the tiefling, but the men would scoff and leave and the women would blush, and turn shy. He tried asking the spirits but Okku's fury made all spirits quiver and flee, but he heard one thing that was odd to him:

_"Flee away! Devourer of Spirits has returned!"_

He has heard tales of such, the Spirit Eater, but why would a spirit tell him it "returned?" He only shook his head and continued on trying to find the tiefling.

He noticed the sky turning orange and pink, but there was still no sign of her. The city wasn't that big; how could one girl be so hard to find!? But an idea clicked in his mind: what if she had fallen asleep somewhere? Then perhaps she would be dreaming and maybe, just _somehow_, he could find her.

He returned to the Sloop, avoiding a certain wizardress, and went to his room. Closing the door; he lied down and closed his eyes.

----

_He didn't know this place..._

_It was a village and it was in ruins; bodies were everywhere, but there was no signs of wounds..._

_"DAEGHUN!!!"_

_He turned and across the bridge, he saw his young leader, she looked the same but her left horn was the same as her right and she didn't wear her one uniform...and she was with many people._

_They were standing in front of a house that was still on fire and she looked horrified._

_"DAEGHUN!!!"_

_His eyes widened as he watched her run into the burning home; her companions yelled for her, except for one who looked like a sorceress._

_"YOU IDIOT! GET BACK HERE!"_

_A human man, a ranger perhaps, ran into the building after the tiefling. The other did not follow in fear that the building would fall upon them if any more weight should appear._

_He soon heard a loud groan and the house collapsed...with Karen and the ranger still inside._

_Everyone but that sorceress ran to the building, but it was still on fire. An elven druidess, a gnome bard (identified by his lute on his back) and another elf, but a wizard (perhaps he is Sand who Karen had mentioned) summoned water elementals to extinguish the flames then a dwarf who appeared to be a common fighter and another human, but he had a certain "aura" to him that made him a paladin, went and begin searching for the two._

_They were soon found; the ranger was on top of Karen, holding her from behind, as if to protect her. She was unconscious but unharmed. The ranger, on the other hand, was injured. His leathers on his back, arms, and legs were scorched off and his skin burnt, and he was bleeding._

_He watched was the scene started to bleed but then turn into another scene; the inside looked like a keep and he noticed the strange woman with green blotched skin go passed him. He followed her and arrived in a room; he saw the ranger on a bed, bandaged and on his stomach; he was unconscious._

_He heard someone sniffle and he looked in a dark corner to see Karen, who was watching the strange woman, who appeared to be a cleric, mend to the ranger's wounds. He noticed that she was crying quietly and that her tail was wrapped around herself._

_"Know that I do not know when he will wake up, but I _do_ know that he will live," the strange woman said before leaving._

_The tiefling didn't leave, she stayed in her corner and watched him._

_"You idiot...Bishop."_

----

Gann opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

_"So, that was Bishop...did he not survive? No...that cleric said that he would live. Then why did his name create such a strong reaction?"_

At the moment; it didn't matter. He got out of bed and out his room; again, avoiding the wizardess and going out the Sloop. It was darker now and he headed to where the portal was. If Karen liked to "hide" in dark corners then Shadow Mulsantir would have been the perfect place.

He entered through the portal then came out; he headed for the shadow version of the theatre, having been told by Safiya what had gone there. He noticed the door was open, which it wasn't last time; perhaps Karen was able to somehow open it without the proper key?

In any case, he went in and he did indeed find the tiefling.

But not in a corner; he was surprised to find her digging the dirt out into a curious hold but then he noticed the charred skeleton. The remains of Liana.

"Giving her a proper grave?"

Her head flew up and eyes widened at seeing him.

"How'd you find me?!"

"When did you wake up?"

She went quiet...

Then she threw dirt at him and he managed to dodge.

"You bastard! How dare you go into my dream like that! You had no right!"

"When one does not know of another, they have every right to find answers of that person."

She was quiet again but she went back to her digging.

He could only sigh and shake his head at her; he walked up to her and grabbed her dirty hands. "Karen..."

"_No!!_"

"I didn't say anything."

"You want to talk about what you saw but I don't want too! I...I can't handle it right now; it's too early for that kind of talk!"

He sighed and let her hands go, and watched her returned to the work she was doing. He couldn't help but smile a bit; so he kneeled down and began to help her. She looked up at him, a bit surprised.

"We have to hurry; it is almost time for battle."

She huffed but grinned sheepishly.

----

It was dark and they stood in front of the gate, ready to exit the entrance. Safiya was in a battle mage robe, but Karen had Kaelyn add on a hood to hide the wizardess' tattoos.

Kaelyn was in new armor and had a heavy shield with a stronger mace. Gann...he wore the mithril shirt under stitched up furs (though it wasn't overly furry, which was to his liking) and a pair of dark and light skins for his breeches; he had a short bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.

And Karen was in her Neverwinter Nine uniform, washed and sewn back together with her mithril shirt under it. She held her rapier by her side and she grinned, her tail lashing from side to side.

"Alright, it's time to go defeat Okku!"

--End of Chapter 2--

_**A/N:**__ I FINALLY FINISHED IT!!! I am soooo sorry for the long wait! But as you can see, .LONG! x.x" I'll be starting chapter four for "Nature's Walk" once I figure out the title and how to start it XD_


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